Who is that voice on that anti-Crist robo call? Charlie Crist

Democrats across Florida heard a mysterious recorded call over the weekend that seemed aimed at attacking likely Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist.

The voice in the recording? Charlie Crist.

"Hi, this is Charlie Crist calling to set the record straight. I'm pro-life. I oppose amnesty for illegal immigrants, I support traditional marriage, and I have never supported a new tax or big spending program. It's sad that in his fourth try for governor my opponent has resorted to distortions and untruths. … Floridians need a consistent, conservative governor that they can trust. I would appreciate your vote on Election Day."

Not exactly your standard Democratic primary platform.

But the voice in the robocall really is Crist's and so were the positions he stressed. But it was Crist circa 2006 — not 2014. Story here.

Back then he was running in the Republican primary for governor and paid for the calls to shore up his conservative support and push back against rival Tom Gallagher's assertion that Crist was a moderate. They certainly were never intended for Democratic voters.

"I was shocked. I wondered if it was somebody that sounded like him, because I know those are not his views," said Debra Schlact of Tampa, who speculated the calls were fraud.

In Crystal River, the Rev. Mary Louise DeWolf was baffled by the reference "fourth try for governor" and double-checked Crist's campaign website to confirm his positions before calling and emailing the Tampa Bay Times for clarification.

Others who contacted the Times wondered whether Democratic underdog Nan Rich might be behind it, or if Republicans had hired a Crist mimic.

"Just received a call with edited snippets of Charlie Crist or some voice imitator designed to make him appear conservative. Despicable conservative GOP tricks," someone posted on a message board about mystery callers.

Anyone hearing the robocalls over the weekend would be hard-pressed to know their source. A woman at the end of the recording says it was paid for by "conservatives," and includes a phone number that when reached gives callers the option of being removed from a call list. Conservatives is the name of a political committee run by Stafford Jones, a Republican operative and Alachua County party chairman, who has a history of trying to damage Democrats in primary elections.

A spokesman for the Crist campaign called it a "shady voter suppression tactic."

"Republicans are so desperate they're not even bothering to cover their tracks: they're targeting Democratic primary voters with a robocall that's nearly a decade old, hoping to fool them into thinking it's new," said spokesman Brendan Gilfillan. "Republicans are running scared — so they're trying to suppress the vote. But it won't work."

We live in strange times. Playing a recording of Charlie Crist's relatively recent statements is considered 'hitting below the belt,' because, what, he is confronted with the humiliating reality of his own duplicity?

Democrat primary voters are disgusted that party leaders have not parted ways with this scumbag crist who is an embarrassment to the party. It is true that he once claimed to hold views they agreed with as family and business friendly people but now this most horrible man has changed his views on all of these topics showing democrat primary voters that not only does he hold views against them but he cannot be trusted in the future. this is why democrat primary voters plan to vote for the nancy lady, the one true democrat.

The lying, flip-flopping scumbag Scott better watch out when heaving dung because some of it may fly back in his ugly bald face. This most horrible man has flip-flopped on so many issues. He was for an Arizona style anti-immigration law and now he supports in state tuition breaks for illegal aliens. He was against McCollum taking money from big sugar and now he's stuffing big sugar money into his pockets.

The fact that Charlie Crist has no convictions is well known. What surprises me is why he has no convictions. He should be convicted on several counts of flip-flopping, prevarication and downright dishonesty.

If he is representative of the ethics and morals and political standards of the state Democrat party these days, God help them.

You have Charlie mixed up with Scott. Scott has been flip-flopping on practically every issue in his desperate attempt to revive his polling numbers and get re-elected. He was for an Arizona style anti-immigration law before he signed into law tuition breaks for illegal aliens and was against taking campaign money from big sugar before he went to the King ranch with big sugar and took campaign money from them. And, of course, his actions as CEO of HCA and the whole medicare fraud case are another story for this Scott.